How to hunt partridge - tips and useful video

Partridge: what kind of game?

Partridge hunting is an exciting activity, and the meat of this bird is considered quite valuable prey.

The partridge is a small bird, its largest weight is just over half a kilogram. Typically, the partridge has a gray plumage color, with a reddish color on its head. Distinguished by a brown spot on the abdomen. The bird leads a terrestrial lifestyle, flies rarely, but runs quite deftly. It makes noise during takeoff and flight, which can be clearly heard in the video.

In addition to the fact that the partridge is a ground bird, it is useful for the hunter to know the following details of its lifestyle:

• The partridge's main places of spending time are grass and bushes;
• this is not a migratory, that is, a sedentary bird, migrations are possible due to the expansion of numbers and a decrease in the amount of food, which is not associated with seasonal phenomena, with the exception of very cold winters;
• in summer, partridges are active at dawn - in the evening and in the morning, and rest during the day; in winter, the bird feeds during the day, making short flights across the territory;
• these are “family” birds, sociable, live in flocks, spend the night together;
• in early April-May, birds make nests, lay eggs, and both parents take care of the nest and offspring.

All these details are captured on video, which is useful for a novice hunter to watch.

In total, there are more than three dozen species of partridges; they are found in Europe, Asia, and America at different latitudes. Partridges live on the territory of Russia - the most common partridges here are common gray and arctic, distinguished by their winter white plumage. The third species, which is also quite common, is the stone partridge, or chukar.

Partridge hunting

This type of hunting is considered quite simple, so it is suitable for beginner hunters. A variety of videos on this topic will help them. At the same time, for partridge hunting to be successful, you need to have certain knowledge.

Need to know: The hunting season for this game varies somewhat in different places, but is usually allowed from July to November, for tundra - a little later. Partridge hunting in winter and summer has certain differences.

The most suitable places to hunt are grain fields after harvesting, clover crops, and areas of farmland with thickets of weeds. Partridges are especially fond of buckwheat and millet crops.

Partridge is hunted with a dog, from the approach, a drive, with a decoy, with a gun or pneumatic weapon, and with various traps. All these hunting methods can be learned from video.

• When hunting with a gun, shot No. 5-6 is suitable for partridge.
• When shooting, you need to aim at a specific bird, and not at a group in general - this way you can injure several individuals, but not catch any.

Partridges do not fly quickly; they spend short periods of time in the air, about two minutes on average. Therefore, it is not difficult to shoot them. True, birds can make turns in flight, but some experience will be enough and you will be able to predict their movements. You can get an idea of ​​the flight of birds through videos.

Hunting season

Partridge hunting season is autumn and winter. Hunting for gray partridge begins in August, after the harvest. This period is favorable for hunting gray partridge, since the bird has nowhere to hide, which makes it quite easy prey.

For hunting ptarmigan, you should also prefer the period from August to October. Winter hunting is also possible, but has a number of features. The hunting season for gray partridges lasts a long time, but it is best to seize the moment immediately after harvesting, especially if the potential prey has taken a fancy to the crop fields.

Partridge hunting from the approach

In the conditions of a nourishing autumn, partridges sometimes eat so much that they hardly even fly in case of danger. In addition, in such years they reproduce well. This is a convenient time for approach hunting. The time for it is autumn or winter. Usually in the morning the flock comes out to feed, and this is where the hunter needs to hurry. They go around the flock and shoot at one bird on the ground. The rest fly up, here you have to be ready to shoot at the game in the air.

Helpful Hint: In the absence of a dog, binoculars will help to detect flocks and individual birds.

Hunting without a dog

To hunt partridge without a dog, you can use a decoy or a trap. Approach hunting is also popular, but it requires some skill. The best time for approach hunting for partridge is early morning. You should detect birds going to a watering hole or searching for food, approach the shooting range, and shoot first at the bushes, and then at the birds that have risen to the wing.

Hunting in winter

When hunting ptarmigan, winter is not the best time of year. The fact is that this bird knows how to hide in the snow, making small holes. Due to the specific color, it is very difficult to detect hidden game against a snow-white background.

Partridge hunting with pneumatics

Partridge is one of the few game species that can be taken with an air gun. Plus, it doesn’t require special permissions.

Partridge hunting with pneumatics is carried out in the same way as a regular one: you need to find the bird, but it is advisable to let it get closer to you. The optimal distance for shooting is about 20 meters, since pneumatics have less destructive power.

Helpful advice: The caliber of bullets for such weapons when hunting partridge is 4.5, 5.5 mm. It is better to choose flathead bullets. An optical sight will also help, preferably with a magnification of 3.5.

How to get closer to a bird if there is no dog to catch it and you are hunting alone? A decoy will help here. By making sounds similar to quails, you can lull their vigilance and get close. And sometimes the quails themselves rush to the call.

When hunting with pneumatics, this technique is also suitable. It is used in the southern parts of Europe. A kite becomes an assistant here, an interesting video confirms this. The snake is made by repeating the image of a bird of prey, which quails are very afraid of. When the kite rises up, the birds press themselves to the ground and remain motionless. Here you can get them.

Hunting with snares and traps

You can take loot even without a gun. Partridges are careless and, at the sight of food, easily fall into set traps. It is most convenient to set a snare on a path trampled by birds at the edge of the field. To guide them to the right place, snow is raked up, blocking the birds' path, and a passage is made in the embankment, behind which a snare is placed.

You can also attract a bird with the help of food: stick willow or birch branches with buds into the snow, scatter some grain, etc. The snare must be tied to a stationary object (a bush, a stake stuck deep in the snow, etc.). If the snare is not tied, the entangled bird will escape.

Sometimes icy holes are used as an improvised trap.

. They are made in winter, in deep snow (at least 10 cm) and good frost. To make a trap, make a hole in the snow by pressing down the snow with a bottle of hot water. The melted snow freezes, forming a slippery ice crust on the walls of the trap. The bird is unable to get out of it or take off. Any grain is used for bait.

Partridge hunting with traps

Hunters have learned to use traps a long time ago, and their skill is progressing. It is excellent to hunt partridge with a trap in winter: the grass does not interfere, and tracks are visible in the snow. Birds' favorite paths often stretch along the edges, near bushes, and near trees. In winter, partridges like to feed on buds. You can use this addiction: take birch and willow branches with you, stick them in the snow and set a snare nearby.

Usually, a snow mound with a passage is made in front of the snare; the branches located in front attract birds. You need to check the snares often, and don’t forget to tie them to some kind of stick, tree, bush, so that the prey does not leave with the trap.

There is quail hunting in the form of unusual, somewhat amusing ways of using improvised traps.

• “Cup”: a 250 ml white plastic glass is tied to a support and some grain, berries, and buds are placed in it. You can understand how to do this correctly from the video. Oddly enough, partridges that climb up there upside down get stuck. They cannot get out on their own and become easy prey for the hunter.
• “The hole”: you can also watch the video on how to do it correctly. The point is that a hole is made in the snow. A great way is to use a plastic bottle of hot water. We press the snow down with the bottom, it melts, and a hole appears. Surprisingly, once a partridge gets into it, it cannot get out. Of course, the snow must be deep enough - at least 10 cm, and to lure them, they throw food into the hole.

Hunters usually adhere to the rule of not killing all the adult birds in a flock, so that the young do not die without the older ones. This helps maintain the bird population in the area. If possible, it is advisable not to kill the dominant male if he can be identified. He is the leader of the pack, who cares about preserving the community.

If you follow simple rules and have a good knowledge of the characteristics of the bird, you can hunt partridges effectively and with great pleasure.

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Gray partridge and hunting for it

The first Saturday of the first autumn month fell on September 2 this year. And consequently, the long-awaited opening of partridge hunting, which a certain part of the hunting community was looking forward to. “A certain part” - because this bird is hunted mainly only by owners of gun dogs - pointers, spaniels, and partly retrievers.

There is also partridge hunting with the so-called “self-topping” - that is, without a dog at all, but it is only possible with a high density of birds and a large number of broods in the area. If you can still get the hang of shooting at suddenly flying birds, then you can only find a downed bird that has fallen into the bushes by chance, and here a sensitive dog’s nose will be extremely useful.

In early autumn, broods of partridges have already grown stronger and fly in friendly flocks together with their parents. Considering that partridges are absolute record holders among birds in terms of egg production, there are also encounters with flocks of 30 birds! This is, of course, rare, but 15–20 birds is the norm. According to the unwritten rules of hunting, it is customary to remove no more than two or three birds from each flock, which, given that every second hunter has semi-automatic shotguns, is not at all difficult.

In addition, when first flushed, a flock of partridges does not all rise at once, so it is quite possible to prepare for the shot, but you should know that the birds rise into the air not only in your direction, but also from the side and even sometimes from behind. Also, when shooting at a flock, you should not “target” the largest birds - they are clearly visible - because these are breeders.

However, it is always difficult to shoot at a rising flock because of the excitement that surrounds the shooter, and it is very difficult to aim at just one bird, and not shoot “in general, as if at partridges,” as one of my friends used to say. In addition, there is no need to get excited, the birds rise in the immediate vicinity of the shooter, and if you shoot right away, it will be a sure miss, and if you accidentally hit the bird, the trophy will most likely be ruined. Once the bird has risen, you need to calmly let it go for 15–20 meters and only then shoot.

As I write this, I remember myself – it’s not always possible to cope with the hunting fever. In addition, after a successful shot, you need to somehow manage to track with one eye where the bird will fall, and with the other to spot where the flock will land. After the second rise, the flock, as a rule, splits into two or three birds, and they begin to run across the ground after landing. That is, the birds will not sit exactly in the place where they landed.

But in general, in order to avoid all these difficulties, hunt partridges with a dog, preferably with a pointer. This is a very exciting, beautiful, dynamic, and, of course, prey hunt compared to a self-propelled gun. The role of the cop here is very important. Searching the grounds with a shuttle, the dog eventually sniffs out a sitting bird and makes a stand, that is, it freezes, like a sculpture (it is, this is not a metaphor at all!), and stands there, showing with all its appearance where the bird is hiding, until the hunter approaches. At the shooter's command, the dog lunges forward, scaring the bird, and the hunter shoots. After the bird falls, the dog starts searching again - this time to find and bring back a dead bird or a wounded bird.

However, everything turns out smoothly on paper. There is always some kind of “introductory” wedged into the hunt in the form of the peculiarities of the dog’s work, the nuances of the area or the hunter who is a moron, although shooting partridges is not considered particularly difficult. In general, everything is very interesting and exciting.

The gray partridge population is subject to very strong fluctuations in numbers. Judge for yourself, about 15 years ago I was training my drathaar to partridge almost in the center of Minsk - on the site of the current shopping center "Castle". In the same area, cynological activities were also carried out - tests of pointing dogs on partridge. That is, the birds were, as they say today, “in abundance.” Then the partridge became smaller and smaller until it disappeared almost completely. Then the number of birds began to gradually increase again - and currently, in my opinion, it is close to optimal.

Our scientists believe that the reasons for the massive decline in the number of gray partridges are harsh winters and especially winters with high snow cover - in such conditions, partridges die out en masse. The death rate of young animals this year in heavy snow reaches 85%. In addition, there is a suspicion that this bird is being massacred by some kind of epizootic, because even if the winters were mild, the number of partridges did not increase. In addition, prolonged rains and cold May and June have a very detrimental effect on bird broods.

One should not discount anthropogenic dangers, in particular, poultry poisoning from seed grains treated with various chemicals and poisoning from water flowing from fields and farms. And if we add to this the pressure of birds of prey and ground predators - including stray cats and dogs - then the situation becomes completely unenviable. As you can see, the bird is very vulnerable, and it survives largely not thanks to, but in spite of.

At the same time, the gray partridge population is very responsive to various kinds of biotechnical measures, in particular winter feeding. The latter becomes very relevant. Farms need to somehow attract hunters, and they can only be attracted by an abundance of game.

The gray partridge is not an inhabitant of the steppe and fields, as many people think. For comfort, in addition to open spaces, it needs low bushes and small forests; flocks of birds stay in agricultural lands as long as there is something to eat there. Therefore, to attract partridges to the land, it is recommended to plant berry bushes: rose hips, hawthorn, blackthorn, currants, gooseberries, and so on.

But let's get back to hunting. We have already written about the dog. Now about the gun. Considering that this hunting is very sportive - it is a running game, the hunter has to cover considerable distances, the gun should be as light as possible, with a half-choke choke. Since you have to shoot at distances of 15–25 meters, it is better to use loaded cartridges without using a container. Birds are usually shot with shot from 9th to 7th number.

And remember the main rule: don’t get carried away by removing a couple of birds from one flock, abandon it and move on to searching for another. Share on social media networks:

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Comments

1. Zhenya 10/17/2016 at 23:03 Partridge meat is very tasty and anyone who knows how to hunt them will confirm this.
   And it is rightly said that you should go partridge hunting, preferably with a dog. You certainly won’t return without a catch. Answer
2. Alex 10/18/2016 at 14:11
   That's for sure! A dog can smell a partridge from a great distance. But we have to admit that this bird is cautious, especially one that has already been frightened. It happens that 80-100 meters away they already sense the approach of danger and fly away.

   Answer

   Sergey 10/18/2016 at 14:40

   That's right, partridges are sensitive birds, so you need to hit them with the first shot, after which they fly away. And if you find a herd in the bushes, you don’t need to destroy it all, let the rest breed and multiply so that you have enough for the next hunt.

   Answer

   Alex 10/18/2016 at 15:06

   You're right. There is no need to be greedy in this matter. When hunting, if we catch 9 pieces between three people, then I consider this not a bad result, after which we can “call it a day.” I once noticed that as autumn approaches, there are more of them, so now is the time to hunt.

   Answer

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